The present invention relates to gel warmers used with ultrasonic imaging systems.
Generally, an ultrasound coupling gel is used with medical ultrasonic imaging probes to improve sonic coupling between the probe and the skin of the patient. Coupling gel is generally provided in a container, and the gel is preferably heated to near-body temperature before being applied to the skin of the patient.
One prior-art approach to this problem is to provide an enclosure into which one or more containers of ultrasound coupling gel are placed. The enclosure typically has a hinged cover, an electrical resistance heater, and a thermostat which connects to a common wall power outlet through a convenience plug. Gel within the containers is heated via conduction through the thermoplastic gel bottle. This results in a relatively long heating time that is required before the gel reaches body temperature. In addition, the enclosure-type heater is relatively large and expensive, and it must be controlled and powered independently of the ultrasound system.
Another prior-art approach is simply to place a container of ultrasound coupling gel on a warm surface of the ultrasound system. The surface may be heated by waste heat from the system monitor, electronics, or the like. This approach provides no automatic temperature control, and it often requires undesirably long heating times, if the gel is adequately heated at all. Because it relies on waste heat, it may not be appropriate for some ultrasound systems, such as those using flat-panel displays, or those in which waste heat is generated at a site remote from a convenient surface.
Thus, a need presently exists for an improved gel warmer for ultrasound coupling gel.
By way of general introduction, the gel warmer described below in conjunction with the drawings includes a holder that is carried and powered by the ultrasound system and that is configured to hold a gel container in an inverted position. The holder includes a heating element, and the gel container includes a dispensing cap. This dispensing cap is in good thermal contact with the heating element when the gel container is inverted and placed in the holder. The dispensing cap includes a heat exchanger that is in good thermal contact both with the external contact surface of the cap and with the gel in the container near the spout.
Because the container is held in an inverted position, and because the heating element is in good thermal contact with gel in the vicinity of the spout, only a small heating time is required to bring an initial portion of the gel to the desired temperature.
The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of general introduction, and they should not be used to narrow the scope of the following claims.